Chocolate Milk pours on the funk at Congo Square Stage

Chocolate Milk pours on the funk at Congo Square Stage

Funk band Chocolate Milk didn’t make the same mark on music as The Meters, but not for a lack of chops. The members played on Allen Toussaint-produced sessions and in the mid to late ’70s, they hovered on the verge of breaking through nationally.

Sunday on the Congo Square Stage, Chocolate Milk brought the old school funk, including the flute solo.

The band grooved along amiably for the first 20 minutes until it settled into the fat funk of “My Mind is Hazy.” Even with a jazzy middle section, it started the dancing that continued with a credible cover of Pharrell’s “Happy.”

The soul jazz groove of “Time Machine” didn’t hook hard enough to keep the attention of the audience, many of whom were waiting for Charlie Wilson, but the shimmering. summery “Groove City” won everybody over.

By the end of the set, it’s hard to imagine that Chocolate Milk convinced anybody that time had cheated the band out of its place in musical history.